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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Oh My Puppies

Walking my dogs is not always conducive to a good workout. Yes, I got out, did something and burned some calories but the amount of work I did with them was significantly less than what I do on my own.

We walked for 50 minutes. I burned 205 calories.

When I did an hour long walk/run combo the day before, I burned just over 500 calories.

Today was quite the walk. It seemed cool out but I think maybe it was too hot for them. The temp was in the 80s, but there was a nice breeze so it didn't feel like it. Apparently dogs do not feel things similar to how we do. The poor things were tired before we even got to our usual turning around point. Buddy actually stopped walking. I knew they were getting worn out because at one point I was walking and they were lagging behind, so much so that the leash was dragging on the ground. I guess he had enough because then he just stopped. Belle wasn't in disagreement, as she stopped too. They did pick up the pace a bit when I said "let's go home." Then they slowed down again, so I'd keep saying "go home" to get them to move a bit faster. They seemed to know when we were almost home because then they wanted to run...For about a block.

When I walk the dogs it's going to have to be in cooler temps, or later in the evening. I can do my walk/run after work, and then later, once it cools down a bit, I can take them out for a little stroll. A little extra walking is a good thing, even if it is just a short walk to please the dog-children. I definitely cannot count on them for calorie burning exercise.

In addition to getting tired they were nothing less than a pain throughout the entire walk. First, they started that pulling behavior. So obnoxious. Then I got them straightened out and the real fun started. Buddy and to stop and smell every pole, stop sign, tree, fence...Anything we passed that he could attempt to pee on. He proceeded to pee (or attempt) on everything. Walk. Stop. Walk. Stop....And so on.

Then there's Belle, the wild little thing that she is. She'd randomly start running then abruptly run behind me (while Buddy was on the other side - probably peeing on something), nearly tripping me. I have one leash with a coupler so that I don't have to deal with two leashes. Usually good. This time; bad. She also enjoys running and then diving toward the ground with her head and eating grass, or at least biting at it.

The highlight had to be when we were walking down the paved bike/running trail and she decided, while walking to start pooping...On the paved pathway. Okay...TMI is coming... Not only did she poop in about five difference places, it wasn't regular, formed poop. It was soft and almost diarrhea like. Lovely. I cleaned it up as best as I could, but I, unfortunately, do not run or walk with a portable hose or squirt gun. Maybe I should start. My clean up job resulted in a smear job. Lovely. Later during the walk, when they were going slow, Buddy decided it was his turn to poop. Luckily his wasn't as soft and it was easier to pick up, and we were almost home. You can imagine the immense joy I felt carrying near-diarrhea home in plastic puppy poop bags. Really. Generally my dogs have regular, formed poops. Yesterday was the day they decided that it'd be fun to knock down the baby gate and get into the trash. I'm pretty sure that whatever they got into resulted in the aforementioned nastiness. Thanks, dogs.

I got out of work late so by the time I got home from that adventure, it was getting too late to do even a short BR, so I didn't BR yesterday (boo!). I'm glad it was only a 1200 calorie day, because I sure didn't burn much. I suppose something burned is better than nothing though.

So that was my Wild Wednesday Workout. Tomorrow? The dogs will not be joining me. I'm having dinner out with a friend (unless plans change) so I think that I will go home do my walk/run, BR, then get ready for dinner. Depending on how late I am, the dogs may or may not get a walk this evening. I'm thinking not. They need a day off anyway...Maybe tomorrow!